Week 3 Already!

1. Week 3 Already!

2. Today -First presentation on Sedaris -Discuss guidelines for group/peer edits and hand out logs. - Lecture on profile subjects -Discuss first person drafts- how did they go?, First group edit. -First peer edits. -Possible listening exercise. More Santaland diaries

3. Assignments -Think of 3 possible profile subjects to pitch during class. Do some pre-reporting. -Complete AtulGawande reading. -Email me your photo if you haven’t! Next time: Group Edits: Jackie L. and Nicole P. Group Presentation: Brittany, Lauren B. and Matt C.

4. Up Next! Profiles. • You must conduct your interviews in person or by phone, with email as a last resort. • Do not write about family members or friends or professional colleagues to avoid conflicts. • Profile subjects MUST be based in New York, to allow for face-to-face meetings.

5. Thinking about your subject • How you approach profile subjects – from your tone of voice to the way you phrase the questions -- makes an enormous difference in your ability to connect. • Follow up interviews with people who know your profile subject well are crucial. • Family members (parents, siblings, spouses), friends, frenemies, bosses or underlings, college classmates – they can all give you insight as well as either back up or contradict information.

6. I thought everyone has a story… • Everyone has a story, but it’s not always that interesting or something you can adapt. If your subject doesn’t have a story that works, find someone else. • Avoid profile clichés: the Heroic Do-gooder, the Freak of the Week • Remember, vulnerabilities make characters more appealing

7. Do I have a story? • You need someone to talk to and a situation to discuss. • Trust the first question that comes to you. Figure out what question you want to answer or what story you want to hear. If the question seems obvious, chances are it’s a story.

8. Try the “and what’s interesting test.” • You simply tell someone about the story you’re doing, adhering to a very strict formula: • “I’m doing a story about X. And what’s interesting about it is Y.”

9. So for example… “I’m doing a story about a homeless guy who lived on the streets for 10 years, and what’s interesting is, he didn’t get off the streets until he got into a treatment program.” Wrong track. Solve for a different Y.

10. “I’m doing a story about a homeless guy who lived on the streets for 10 years, and what’s interesting is… • Y = “… and what’s interesting is there’s a small part of him that misses being homeless.” Right track. • Y = “… and what’s interesting is, he developed surprising and heretofore unheard of policy recommendations on the problem of homelessness from his personal experience on the streets.” Right track. • Y = “… and what’s interesting is, he fell in love while homeless, and is haunted by that love still.” Right track. • Y = “… and what’s interesting is, he learned valuable and surprising life lessons while homeless, lessons he applies regularly in his current job as an account manager for Oppenheimer mutual funds.” Right track.  • In other words, who the hell knows what you might find out. Just don’t settle for the story you already know. Find the exciting or surprising or unusual moment, and focus the story on that.

11. Follow your curiosity.Pay attention to your boredom. People often tell you the boring part first. Sometimes they think it is exciting or think it’s what they are supposed to tell a reporter. Dig deeper. If you are bored, your audience will be bored.